Peeling the Layers of the Casper Suite ‘AND’ Philosophy

JAMF Software has advocated the Casper Suite ‘AND’ approach for quite some time. But what are the ‘ANDs’ and how can I use them? Gerard Allen, Cork-native, Mac admin veteran with more than 20 years of experience, took the JNUC crowd on a journey through the different ‘ANDs’ and how to layer them with the Casper Suite.

What is an “AND”? The ANDs are the additional tools that can be used in conjunction with the Casper Suite. Gerard took us through a few of his favorites: GUI tools, not so-GUI tools, and community support.

In certain environments, this tool set can be very useful for imaging when you don't need the full-on Casper Suite experience.

6. Apple Remote Desktop

Gerard states he can use this tool with “one hand behind his back and blindfolded.” We’d like to see that some day, but until that day, we'll take his word for it. He says this tool is perfect if you want to oversee what’s happening on your network.

If you’re not a coder, this gives you a great user experience, with a nice looking GUI. The tabs feature is particularly user-friendly, plus it understands what you’re writing as you’re writing it so the color of the code changes giving you immediate feedback.

Create Geeklets – small scripts that display messages on the desktop. Ever find yourself asking “What’s the IP/Mac Address/hostname? This makes it really easy. Write your own or copy and paste from ones already written by members of the community.